respect.

tonight i am overwhelmed by gratitude for the family i have been blessed with, the families that have adopted me over the years, and for my ever-growing contingent of good friends. i do believe that the energy that you put forth in your life comes back to you tenfold. if you give willingly of yourself, then you will receive in abundance.

i have always accepted people at face value, at exactly where they are in their life, and at times, where they are in that very moment. i am not perfect, far from it. my flaws fall into the “go big or go home” category. i have made plenty of mistakes and i try to forgive others for theirs. i have no room to judge other people, unless of course, they hurt the people i love.

as a result of this acceptance of others, i have been surrounded my whole life by people who have embraced me and my personality with open arms. and it has been a lot to handle at times. i can be pretty strange.

what i love most about the people that surround me is that they accept me for ME. they open their doors to meeting the woman i love and accept the importance of her role in my life without hesitation. they want to know about her. they ask after her. they love that i am happy. they tease me about smiling when i talk about her. they tell me i deserve happiness. they tell me that i deserve her.

my friends and family both, including my parents, respect the choices i make with both my head and my heart. they have grown with me over the years and never attempted to change who i am. the only person who has to live with the choices i make is me, but i do love having my loved ones by my side. people may question the choices that i have made in my life, but i know that i am on a journey. i am not alone on that journey. there is a purpose and i have faith that i am on the path that is right for me. everything that has happened in my life, has happened for a reason.

overall, i am grateful for the respect. my relationship is just as important as yours. the love i have for another woman is just as important as your love for someone of the opposite sex. when i say i am committed to someone, people know i will go to the ends of the earth for that person. i do not say the word “love” lightly. i will say it often to those i care about, but it carries weight. i do not hide. i am not ashamed. God don’t make junk. and i cannot control who i love. my heart has chosen. and if you don’t like it, well….i have two words for you.

don’t look.